The heavy silence while I sat in the back of my own car was crushing me. Julian had insisted on driving. With one look, he made me hand over the keys to my 1995 VW bug…and then moved the seat for me to get in the back. It was probably for the best, given that Bandit was riding on my lap, but I wasn’t going to tell them that.

At least they gave me a choice about who rode in the back with me. Not that it really saved me. Rysten was just as massive as the other two and had his thigh flush against mine. As if that wasn’t enough to make me uncomfortable, he also hadn’t taken his eyes off me. Julian had purposefully moved the rearview mirror to face me instead of the back window, and I felt his gaze on me as well. Maybe he just didn’t have any kind of self-preservation like I did, given that a bullet to the head couldn’t make him blink. If I wasn’t blushing before, I definitely was now.

I couldn’t believe that I shot him. And that he let me live.

“Are you going to tell me who the hell you people are?” I finally asked. Bandit’s frustration was leaking through, and I was on edge. He didn’t like all the strangers in the car with us anymore than I did.

“Soon.” Julian said. “We’ll explain it when we get to your house. Laran is almost there already.”

“Wait, who’s Laran?”

I probably should have been more freaked out that they knew where I lived, but given that Allistair got me out of jail before Moira could arrive, it really wasn’t that surprising.

“Another Ho—” Rysten began, until Julian glared at him. “You’ll meet him soon enough. He’s a friend.”

Great. Another one. Well then. I guess that’s all there was to it.

Settling back into my seat, I held Bandit closer, stroking his fur to ease him. Blood smudged my clothes where he rubbed his face and paws. I was happy it wasn’t his, but I didn’t want to think about where it had come from. I lived fifteen minutes from the parlor and it felt like it took twice the time to get there. When we pulled into my driveway, whatever shock I felt faded away at the sight of my sleazy ex-boyfriend.

The car rolled to a stop, but no one in my company made a move to get out. Julian and Allistair shared a look in front of me, like they were seriously considering keeping me in here. Uh…not happening.

Not at all surprising, Josh had the nerve to walk up and tap on the window. Allistair didn’t respond. Instead, Rysten, the one I thought was the most easy-going of the three, said, “We should get rid of him.”

“If you let me out, I will deal with it,” I said. While the thought of ‘getting rid of him’ appealed to me as much as setting Kendall’s car on fire, I was already in enough trouble with the police.

They shared another look, but it was only when Julian shrugged that both he and Allistair actually got out of the damn car. Allistair silently held the seat forward for me. It would’ve been a kind gesture, but he barely gave me room. Forced to graze his suit as I squeezed by, my libido went into fucking overdrive. Didn’t even touch his skin. His suit. The scent of him filled my nostrils, sending tingles…

I was breathing heavy by the time I was standing on my own two feet outside the car, and it had nothing to do with physical exertion. I glared at him, an arrogant smirk on his face.

“Hi, Ruby,” Josh said, pulling my attention away. I turned my eyes to him and what I saw was disappointing.

When I met him, he had this whole lost soul thing going on. He kept his hair long and was in a band. I never loved him, but he was a good person to pass the time with. Until Kendall got her claws into him. Looking at him now, it was like two different people. This Josh dressed in Polos and loafers. His hair was short and gelled back, and from five feet away, the cologne he wore was enough to make me want to gag.

“What do you want?” I asked. I could hear the fatigue in my voice. Truth be told, I was fucking exhausted after the adrenaline high I’d already had today. I didn’t have the energy to waste on him.

“I wanted to talk…” he started slowly, giving a pointed look at the three guys who stood behind me. I didn’t even need to look. There was tension radiating through the air. I could feel it.

“I have nothing to say to you.” Bandit growled at him from his perch on my shoulder. Josh paled, but he didn’t back away. I sighed. Idiot boy.

“That can’t be true, Ruby. You blew up my girlfriend’s car. I know you still care,” Josh said, even going so far as to take a step towards me. I didn’t want to step back, because it looked weak. But I was worried Bandit might actually attack him. He’d never liked Josh, and right now he was being very protective of me and wanted him gone.

“That’s because your girlfriend’s a bitch. Don’t confuse the facts,” I said dryly. Without warning or permission, a strong arm wrapped around my waist. I tensed, worried that my raccoon’s anger was going to turn on the person who had just touched me, but it appeared that Bandit was dead set on wanting to get rid of Josh, and only Josh.

“Is this”— he stammered—“Is this why you won’t return my calls?” He motioned to the beautiful trio of men, his eyes bulging out. I could see what was coming next. “You wouldn’t even have sex with me, and you have—”

My eyes flashed. “I’m not answering your calls because you and I are no longer dating. We are not a thing. We aren’t even friends. What I do now is none of your concern.” I had to work to keep the growl out of my voice.

Yeah, I didn’t have sex with him. I didn’t have sex with anyone because it was never a conscious choice. I could pick any guy off the street and he would fuck me then and there if I wanted, thanks to dear old Mom. So, despite my nature, I didn’t fuck anyone. And this was what I got for it.

The boy actually had the nerve to take another step towards me. “This isn’t you, Ruby. I remember. I know you. You wouldn’t be with these”—he broke off, searching for a word that would suffice to describe the three stunning demons that were unlike anything this earth could produce. Even in his sub-conscious human mind, something registered that they were more than men—“people.” Someone snorted behind me, and I was pretty sure which one, given that only one of them had a sense of humor from what I could tell. The laughing stopped short when Josh said, “Come back to me.”

“Why on earth would you think I am ever coming back to you?” I scoffed. I probably would have laughed had the arm around my waist not tightened slightly as he let out the tiniest of growls. It was so low I almost didn’t hear it, but it was there. I looked up to see Julian.

My heart skipped a beat as I swallowed hard. My throat was dry and scratchy, but there was something so protective and feral about the way he looked at Josh that just made a girl wonder what a little taste of that might be like. To have a demon like Julian’s complete and utter attention…

Pure bliss? Or pure hell?

Somehow, I thought he might be a bit of both. They say pain is pleasure, if you know what you’re doing.

Damnit, Ruby. You need to focus. Now isn’t the time to be thinking like a sex-deprived maniac.

Josh cleared his throat, and I blinked. Shit. Did he say something? I glanced back at my stuffy ex with his posh ironed khakis.

“I made a mistake, Ruby. I’m sorry—”

“I gotta stop you right there. We both know you’re going to go home after this, screw Kendall, and then come back another day to ‘beg’ for my forgiveness. So, can we just skip all the unnecessary bullshit, and move on like adults? Because I’m really getting tired of her taking out her issues with you”—I pointed a finger at his weak chest—“on me.”

I had really hoped it would work this time. That being straight-forward would do the trick. Silly me, thinking that Josh could think with his brain and not his dick. He didn’t consider the words for more than four seconds before inserting his foot in in his mouth. Again.

“Ruby. Please. Let’s just talk this out. I miss you,” he whined. Damnit. Not the whining.

My patience was already running thin and he just stomped on the last layer that was positioned between him and the brutally frigid truth that came pouring from my lips.

“Go home and lay in the fucking bed you made. You cheated on me. I’m not coming back to you, and this is your last warning. Move on.” The pissed off look in his eye would have been funny, but I knew he’d forget about it soon enough. Then he’d be right back here on my doorstep, begging for something he’ll never have.

“I think it’s in your best interest that you leave now, while you still can.” The menace in this voice sent chills down my spine. I turned to the figure that came strolling up my driveway.

Holy. Hell. His hair was so dark, it looked black…but when the light from the streetlamps hit it, I saw flashes of pure, undiluted red. He was the tallest of the four, with fierce black eyes and a savageness about him that told people he was not one to be fucked with.

Josh took a single look at him and I thought he was going to piss himself. While they still scared the shit out of me, I’d shot one and they still haven’t killed me. That’s a pretty good reason to think they won’t. Josh didn’t have that courtesy, and if he continued to stay here running his mouth about our lack of a sex life, I might decide to say ‘fuck it’ and let Bandit at him.

“Don’t make me call the police, Josh,” I said, knowing it wouldn’t get that far. He was an idiot and a cheater, but he didn’t want trouble with the law.

After one particularly snobbish look around, he got in his car and drove off.

I couldn’t contain the sigh of relief as his tires squealed around the corner of my street, but that relief was short-lived. Only then did I realize Julian’s arm was still around my waist. I was becoming increasingly aware that I may have just traded one bad situation for another.

They haven’t killed you yet, I reminded myself. May as well get it over with. I stepped away from Julian, putting space between me and the four demons that sucked the air from my lungs.

“So, is this where you finally tell me who you are and why you’re following me?” They didn’t look at each other, but each of their faces was set in grim determination.

“I am Pestilence,” Rysten said.

No…

“I am Famine,” Allistair followed.

Devil save me.

“I am Death,” Julian continued in a cool tone.

It should have clicked with me sooner.

“My name is Laran, and I am War,” the fourth and final one said.

They didn’t continue because they didn’t need to. I knew who they were. Every demon in both worlds knew who they were.

“You’re the Four Horsemen,” I whispered.